5 Movies That Came Out When This Year’s Freshmen Were Born

The Class of 2017 are just entering high school this year. This means they were born in 1999. It may seem that they are all grown up and mature, but it might surprise you when you look back to the movies that came out the year they were born. I often mark points in my life when I think back to the movies I’ve seen. Looking at this list, it amazes me that many of these films don’t seem that old. What do you think?

STAR WARS | PHANTOM MENACE

At the time of the film’s release, the producers ran a disinformation campaign to suggest that Natalie Portman played both Padme and The Queen at all times. In fact, they are not always the same person. For many sections of the film, notably those where The Queen is wearing the black outfit with the huge feather headdress, she is actually a decoy, played by Keira Knightley. The real queen, Portman, is actually disguised as a handmaiden. Various conflicting public statements make it extremely difficult to figure out who is who. Whole websites are devoted to figuring out which actress is playing which handmaiden or The Queen at any given point. Did you even know Kiera Knightley was IN this film?

THE MATRIX

While Keanu Reeves eventually got the part as Neo, other actors who were considered for the role were: Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Will Smith – who turned down the role to star in The Wild, Wild West. Big mistake!

AMERICAN PIE

When submitting his script to studios, screenwriter Adam Herz titled it, “Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love”. It was later changed to “East Great Falls High”, then “Great Falls”, and finally, “American Pie”.

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT

This film was part of the 2001 Guiness Book of World Records for having the most swear words in an animated film. Total use of profanity: 399 times, including 146 uses of the “F” bomb.

AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME

Although the word “shag” is less offensive in the U.S. than most other countries, not all translated the title into something less raunchy. The Norwegian title of the movie is “Spionen som spermet meg”, which is a slightly dirtier way of saying “The spy who ejaculated on me”. Yeah, Baby!

Other movies that came out this year were:

Sleepy Hollow (Starring Johnny Depp)
The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan’s last good film)
Toy Story 2
American Beauty (Academy Award Winner)
The Mummy
James Bond: The World Is Not Enough